A Starbucks customer said he was charged $1.45 for pumpkin cold foam and was unable to pay using Stars. Viewers are unhappy that Starbucks seems to be raising prices.
TikTok user Allison (@allison12121) posted a viral video in which she breaks down the price of coffee and then says, “I’m going to count Starbucks in my budget.” The clip had been viewed more than 55,000 times as of Friday afternoon.
@Alison12121 Count Starbucks in your budget too 😅😭 – Also, I’m taller because I’m watching my caffeine and calories. #inflation #Starbucks #StarbucksDrink ♬ Original song – Aru🍁
“Literally, prices are getting so high that we can’t do anything about it,” Alison said at the beginning of the video.
She explained that she went to Starbucks that morning and earned enough stars to get a free drink. She decided to order a tall iced latte.
“I didn’t add a ton of syrup or anything. I just added pumpkin cold foam,” she said.
Alison said the barista told her: “You can use stars on drinks, but you can’t use them on cold foam anymore.”
She said she expected the price to be “about 65 cents,” but the pumpkin cold foam ended up being $1.45.
“While drinking,” she emphasized.
“In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a lot of money. If it were me, I would have paid for it anyway,” Allison said. “But when she broke it, I thought about what I was paying for. I thought, ‘What am I doing?'”
One viewer agreed, writing: “It’s really upsetting. Back in the day, just one drink would get you 150 stars.”by starbucks website, customers can get a free hot or iced coffee with 100 stars. However, getting a “handmade drink” like the latte Alison ordered costs 200 stars.
Another viewer highlighted how expensive cold foam is through comparison, saying, “That’s the equivalent of half a gallon of milk.”
“So I’m a Dutch Brothers girl,” said one viewer.
One viewer wrote to Alison: “If you get a grande with cold bubbly, have your grande drink served in a venti cup so you get all the bubbly value.” .
For those looking to save money at the coffee giant, the Daily Dot recently highlighted some Starbucks money-saving hacks. These include how to make his famous cheese danish at home and how to get two of his cold beer drinks for the price of one.
The Daily Dot reached out to Allison via direct message on TikTok for more information.
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*First published: September 22, 2023, 7:39pm CDT
Grace Fowler
Grace Fowler is a summer reporting and media fellow at the Daily Dot. She just graduated from Texas State University, where she studied mass communication.